From Childhood
by NikkaHi
Summary: 'I heard you were moving to England,' she said, 'It's my contact details.' She had already moved back some months ago, though she had ended up in Kyoto. 'Hello, Keigo,' she said, a small smile playing at her lips as she studied him. He could feel the eyes of his teammates on his person but for once he could not care less.


_Don't ask me. I don't know where this came from, just that I needed a break from NaNoWriMo._

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The first time they met was when they were just little kids: barely old enough to be alone at the playground but still both had been left on their own on the island. Four cottages stood on the large island, as far away from each other as they could to offer some privacy to their owners.

It was one of the many summerhouses the Atobe family owned and Keigo had been sent there for the summer as his parents flew to Europe on business, leaving their son in the care of their many servants.

One of these houses belonged to her parents as well, the one furthest to the east, and she was much in the same seat as him, only it was her grandparents who acted as her guardians that summer.

They had found each other by the small river somewhere in between their individual homes purely by accident. She had been standing knee-deep in the chill water and collecting shiny stones from the sea bottom when he had been following the river to see where it led.

She had mentioned that she went there every day to find the perfect stone for each day, collecting a heap only to sort through them and decide on one to take with her home. Though his already mature mind had labelled her a commoner usually not worthy of his company, much due to his parents' characteristic upbringing, he found himself going there every coming day. He, of course, only said it was because he did not have anything better to do.

'You know,' she said one day when she was looking through her pile of stones, him sitting on a stone next to her with his bare feet in the water. 'I think you can make a lot of friends if you stop looking down on people.'

He blinked at the sudden change of topic. 'I only look down on people who deserves it,' he replied, sticking his nose in the air.

She simply hummed and continued to pick up stones, look at them and then put them into other smaller piles. He looked at her when she did, studying her facial expressions as it changed when she saw something she liked and when she did not. He had learned that she was sharper than the other children their age, as she could keep up with him when he chose to speak about some grown-up topic just to test her. However, he had also learned that she was either too dense to catch up on his rather harsh remarks about hers, and others, characters, or she simply did not care and filtered it away one way or another.

'I'm going back home at the end of the week,' she said towards the end of the summer, still collecting stones as he sat on the same boulder next to her. 'Mom and dad is coming back from America.'

He would have to stay another week after that at the island. He leaned back against his outstretched arms and avoided looking at her. 'I see,' was all he said and she just hummed once more as she continued to collect her stones.

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The next time they met was a few years later during a birthday party for her father. He recognised her easily enough, she still had the same carefree-almost-bored look on her face as she sat looking out over the sea of people gathered to celebrate her father.

His own parents had insisted on him staying with them to speak with every person that passed them by, saying it was a good thing to start early with creating his own network in the business world. He was sure they were right but sometimes even he, though he never spoke of it, wished to be treated like others his age.

'Your mother is nice,' she had said when he joined her by her table after finally fulfilling his parents' quota of people to speak with.

'She is,' he had agreed, looking over at his laughing mother.

'I like her dress.'

He had glanced at her then, seeing her look at his mother with the same approving expression she had held for the stones she liked years before. 'She designed it herself.'

'I heard she's a designer,' she said.

'She is.'

Then her father had come to get her, to introduce her to some other people that Keigo had already spoken to. He nodded politely and wished him a happy birthday before the two of them left, leaving him to study the crowd before him. He contemplated on joining in on some conversation with the grown-ups but decided against it. Looking over at the other children there, few but still enough to be called a group, he did not even think the thought of joining them when he saw them running around a table playing catch. So he remained where he was, simply studying the people before him.

Towards the end of the night she stood next to her parents when they saw everyone off by the door, looking minimal against the grand pillars framing the entrance. As their parents were talking, holding a longer conversation since they were the last to leave, she handed him an envelope.

'What is this?' he asked, turning it back and forth but only seeing his own name neatly written on the front.

'I heard you were moving to England,' she said and made a motion to his mother when he raised a questioning brow. 'It's my contact details.'

'Thank you,' was all he had said before he had followed his parents down the stairs to the car that had pulled up at the bottom.

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They did not actually meet during his time in England: he never leaving the country and she never visiting. They did, however, write each other emails occasionally.

He telling her about whatever came to mind: his tennis, his school, and his parents' lacking presence. She doing much the same: her school, her friends and her travels.

They both agreed that they found it odd that she never managed to get to England during her travels, seeing as she did so quite a bit both with and without her parents.

Some time after his move to Britain, a year or so they estimated, she told him that she was transferring to a prestigious school in America. He had simply congratulated her on passing the entrance exams and she had thanked him, then they had barely spoken of it again.

Every time he got a mail from her he could see her different expressions and hear her tone of voice through her written words, and he wondered if she could do the same. Had she cared enough to remember him like he had her? Why had _he_ bothered to that?

He met Kabaji then, finding surprising comfort in the large boy's presence in his life, and the emails grew few and far in between. They still exchanged them but towards two years since their last meeting it was more or less standard greetings for festivity times. Greetings and short paragraphs about what was going on in their lives.

'What's her name?' Kabaji asked one time, surprising Keigo out of his musings.

He looked at the larger boy sitting opposite him by the desk. 'Hayashi Kana,' he replied finally, leaning back in his chair.

'She seems nice,' he said, his face as blank as usual.

Keigo chuckled. 'She is.'

Kabaji knew about her since the time when Keigo had been ill in bed and had asked him to read his email for him, saying he was too tired to do so himself. It had been short message where she wished him better health and an update on her life, including her apparently miserable try at playing tennis: which had been his own suggestion.

Uncharacteristically Kabaji had been interested in who she was and, since he had never asked such questions before, Keigo found no problem with telling him about her. Every now and then he would drop a comment on her doings for Kabaji's interest to be spiked, seeing as the bigger boy rarely dared to ask.

'I think the two of you would get along quite fine,' he said at one time during one of their talks about her. 'Yes, yes I think so,' he nodded to himself, thinking about their similarities in character.

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During the flight back to Japan when it had been decided that he should attend school there instead he took his time to inform her of this. Not too long after he sent it he received the news that she had already moved back some months ago, though she had ended up in Kyoto this time.

Even though they now were in the same country they still did not meet; she was busy with school and her music club; he with settling in after yet another move.

He went into Hyoutei and took on the role as its king, made his way to the top of the tennis club as well as becoming the student body president. Kabaji was faithfully at his side during the whole time, even though he was a year younger and spent that year being home-schooled.

It was during his senior year that they got to meet, finally. She was moving back to Tokyo after finishing her intensive academic training at her school in Kyoto and her parents had arranged for her to join him in Hyoutei.

He would never admit it but he was nervous about meeting her after so many years of only brief exchanges of emails. He knew he had changed quite a bit, if not his personality then he had physically, and spent many hours thinking about how she could have changed.

The day came when she arrived, little talk about her except for the usual buzz regarding a new student. She did not come to any of his classes that day and they did not meet at all during the day.

He spotted her easily on the grandstand surrounding their courts: she looked much like she had years ago but had grown quite a bit. He knew he was distracted during the practice and that Oshitari had picked up on exactly where his eyes and mind wandered every now and then, as he liked to mention it.

She sat patiently watching their practice without moving about, simply taking in what they were doing with a blank expression. Even after all their fans had dispersed for the day and they were done changing she had remained where she sat.

He swallowed harshly as he walked down to where she sat, casually putting a hand in his pocket and hoping it would give him some sort of comfort. It did so barely. He could feel the eyes of his teammates on his person but for once he could not care less.

He stood half a head taller than her and she really did look much like she had when they were children, only now she was growing into a young woman and she held herself in a way worthy of her status.

'Hello, Keigo,' she said, a small smile playing at her lips as she studied him. Again he saw the approving expression cross her face and felt himself relax a little.

'Hello, Kana,' he replied and could not stop the smile that came to his face.

He offered her his hand up the stairs but neither of them let go as they walked over to his teammates. 'Everyone, this is Hayashi Kana,' he said.

'Hello, nice to meet you,' she said and they bowed politely to each other. 'Thank you for taking care of Keigo.'

'Kana,' he sighed and his teammates laughed heartedly. 'Come, I'll take you home,' he said and lead the way to where his driver always picked him up, and she walked with him without missing a beat.

Their hands remained locked together and the others were unsure if the two of them even noticed it themselves.


End file.
